Five ways to identify your ideal customer
Have you ever put too much on your plate and not spend enough time eating? Yeah, that's me most weeks, but this week was one for the record books, so I'm keeping this week's letter concise and highly actionable.
The hype is that I've got some killer announcements coming that could change both of our lives [cue dramatic music].
Sponsor and ad-free this week. Drink up!
How to find your ideal customer
I originally wrote nearly 2,000 words on this topic and soon realized it was too damn much. Instead, I lit that story on fire and kept only the parts I could read through the scorched pages.
Designing an ideal customer avatar is a way of manifesting who you believe would be the perfect person to become a loyal customer who buys from you often instead of spending your time and promotional energy on people who aren't buying.
There's extensive information on this topic, some highly intensive, but I will make this as simple as possible by posing just five questions. There are a couple of important notes to consider first.
This is a visualization strategy. You need to be able to picture this person in your mind with these questions.
It shouldn't be someone in real life unless you have one or two customers who already fit your ideal customer
Remember that you want to visualize someone who would pay top dollar to you often. Don't waste time visualizing small ticket buyers.
Finally, if you have products in different categories or price points, you may want to do this exercise for each if the ideal customer isn't the same.
Now, get a pen and some paper, and as you think about these questions, write down every last detail you can about this person. This will take a lot of brain power but do not scrimp on the work. The more you write about them, the more precise your vision will be.
Finally, when you answer these questions, think about how the answers are or are not crucial to your product or business. Write that down as part of the answer, as it will clarify which aspects to focus on later.
What is their name, and what do they look like physically?
What do they do for work, and how much money do they make (Hint: if your ideal customer is broke, you're doing this wrong)?
Where do they live, and is their proximity to you important?
What is their home and family life like?
What is the pain in their life that your products or business can fulfill?
Again, get deep and detailed with these answers, especially #5. That one will be difficult for some people to answer, but I encourage you to get creative with your responses.
Once you've written it down, transcribe it digitally and print it out. Read it repeatedly until you can recite everything you know about your ideal person if someone asks.
If you take this project seriously, it could open up many things for you and your business; some doors and some wounds, but all of them are opportunities.
Where is your ideal customer hanging out?
If you've done the ICA exercise above or already know your ideal person, it's time to find out where they spend their time. I don't mean which malls, bars, or golf courses, but where do they spend their time online?
I've mentioned this in the past, but for those of us who spend most of our time on Instagram or YouTube, what if you found out that your ideal customer is actually on LinkedIn or Twitter? Would that stop you from trying to find them because you had no interest in being there?
Without getting too philosophical, let's assume you want to seek them out wherever they are, but where are they exactly?
1. Ask Questions
If you know someone who might be in the basic vicinity of your ideal customer, drop them a note and see if they are open to answering some questions to help you improve your business.
What kind of devices do they use, and which apps are their favorite? What social apps do they use regularly? How and where do they research topics? Where do they get their news? Which podcasts and newsletters do they subscribe to? Which online communities do they belong to?
Doing this with more than one or two people will improve your chances of triangulating the best places to spend your promotional efforts.
2. Find your competitors?
You have competition, and if you know who they are, you're one step in the right direction, but do you know where they spend their efforts? Not to get too Spy-vs-Spy here, but if you can find where your competition spends their time, you may be there too. Mimic their online habits and outbid them on advertising.
NOTE: Ignore competitors that sell less than you.
3. Watch trends
Do you know where your market is heading? Are there new places where people are buying products like yours? Are things trending up or down?
Google Trends is an excellent place to start, but it doesn't come with much detail. Also, look into online forums, Reddit groups, discord channels, or any place where others in your market talk to each other. Read the necessary news sources, and pay for subscriptions to sources that can make a difference between you and your competition.
The more research you do, the better you'll get at this, and you'll start seeing trends you didn't know existed before. Happy hunting.
Small Bites
✅ - Want to know what validation sounds like? It sounds like Dr. JJ Petersen when he discusses how to sell art without selling out, and he says everything I've been telling artists for years! (The link above is for Apple Podcasts—also on Spotify).
🤝 - Do you remember back in 2021 when a song went viral that went something like, "It costs that much because it takes me f**king hours," and the entirety of the art and craft world rejoiced because someone finally said what we were all thinking? The woman who wrote that song is my friend Laura Jane, and she's brilliant and lovely. She's hilarious on Instagram, too.
⚫️ - We knew these were coming, so we might as well get this out of the way now. 20 Black Friday/Cyber Monday marketing ideas for a reliable sales strategy.
🏷️ - If you want to sell more, you better understand your value.
👩🏽🏫 - Skillshare is hopping into the streaming game by offering a FAST channel where you can learn new things for free (with ads) on your smart television or streaming device. Sorry, this isn't for browser users.
📧 - Whether you side with her or not, VP Kamala Harris is leaning into email marketing, and this genius headline will soon be replicated everywhere.
My Open Tabs
Kottke.org and Swiss Miss are two blogs that rarely leave my tab bar
How to Create Ownable Conversations: A Step-by-Step Guide to Engaging with Niche Communities
